Method and means for filling containers with wedge-shaped units



R. POLK, JR

Jan. 28, 1964 METHOD AND MEANS FOR FILLING CONTAINERS WITH WEDGE-SHAPED UNITS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 8, 1961 Z I INVENTOR l'avlbfali, J1:

ATTORNEYS R. POLK, JR 3,119,215

METHOD AND MEANS FOR FILLING CONTAINERS'WITH WEDGE-SHAPED UNITS Jan. 28, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 8, 1961 INVENTOR 4 )mgwrw, Jr:

ATTORNEYS Jan. 28, 1964 R. POLK, JR 3,119,215

METHOD AND MEANS FOR FILLING CONTAINERS WITH WEDGESHAPED UNITS Filed May 8, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 (1 29: 4. 79 ti 5.

j/ "ll i p, Z? 2; II w [I INVENTOR ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,119,215 METHOD AND MEANS FGR FILLING CGNTAIN- ERS WITH WEDGE-SHAPED UNITS Ralph Polk, .lr., 81 Bahama Circle, Davis Island, Tampa, Fla. Filed May 8, 1961, Ser. No. 108,477 12 Claims. (Cl. 53-36) This invention relates to a method and means for filling containers with a plurality of similar wedge-shaped units, and is particularly adapted to the packing of citrus fruit sections in cans, or like containers.

Due to the shape of grapefruit and orange sections, that is, that of a spherical wedge, great difficulty has been encountered in packing the sections with existing machinery, or with known methods. If the sections are poured into a can, or permitted to drop freely one upon another, the sections will pile up in indeterminate fashion, with some sections horizontal, some vertical, and others at all angles in between, so that the sections tend to stack, leaving many voids between the sections and creating undue prmsures upon some of the sections. The results of this condition are non-solid packs, and broken, or otherwise damaged sections.

The general object of the present invention is to provide a method for filling containers with objects of generally spherical wedge shape to obtain a pack which is relatively solid and in which the objects all occupy substantially horizontal positions, with the side surfaces of the several objects in adjacency.

A more specific object is to provide a method whereby the objects, or sections, being packed are maintained at a level near the top of the container, with the accumulated sections moving downwardly only as additional sections are added.

A further object of the invention is the provision of such a method wherein the individual objects, or sections, as well as the accumulated mass of objects in a container being packed are yieldingly urged upwardly during the packing process.

Another object is to provide mechanism for carrying out the packing method Which is disclosed herein.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of one practical embodiment thereof, when taken in conjunction with the drawings which accompany, and form part of, this specification.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of apparatus adapted to fill containers in accordance with the method herein disclosed;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the structure shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURES 4, 5, 6 and 7 illustrate, somewhat diagrammatically, a single unit of the apparatus in various positions in performing the steps of the container-filling method; and

FIGURE 8 is a diagrammatic layout of cam tracks capable of causing vertical movement of certain units of the apparatus in carrying out the steps of the method.

In general, the present method for filling cans with spherical wedge-shaped objects, such as grapefruit sections for example, consists in the placing, or dropping, of one object, or section, at a time into a container, and yieldably supporting that section in a generally horizontal position so that, as each succeeding section is similarly dropped and supported, the accumulated sections will lie substantially horizontal and with superimposed sections in surface contact with one another. The apparatus is adapted to fill cans in this manner.

lCC

Referring to the method more specifically, it is proposed that a container into which grapefruit sections are to be packed will be filled to a level near the top with a liquid having a specific gravity which will float the grapefruit sections. The sugar syrup in which grapefruit sections are normally packed is very suitable for this purpose. A section of grapefruit will be dropped into the liquid. In most cases, the section will fall with the base of the wedge, that is the surface which is a part of the outer surface of the whole fruit, downward, for that is the heaviest portion of the section. The section will plunge into the liquid, then rise to the surface, com ing to rest in a substantially horizontal position. The section will assume this position due to the fact that its side presents the greatest surface area, and, therefore, provides the greatest area for floating support upon the liquid. The section, of course, will displace a given quantity of liquid, raising the liquid level. 'It is contemplated that the displaced liquid will be removed from the container to maintain the level constant.

When another section is dropped into the container, it also tends to plunger below the surface and to turn upon its side to float horizontally, if it falls in the container in an area unoccupied by the first section. To assure this positioning of the sections, the container is preferably rotated approximately intermediate the adding of sections. After each section addition, a quantity of the liquid is removed.

As more sections are added, a more or less solid, generally flat fruit surface is presented at the top of the container upon which subsequently added sections fall. Due to their shape, the falling sections, upon contacting this generally fiat surface, will fall upon their sides to lie flat also. Of course, as sections are added the mass is lowered so that the top fruit sections are substantially at the liquid level.

In carrying out the method, it has been found desirable to depress the accumulated sections into the liquid after each addition, to provide free liquid above the sections for easy removal, and to further assure the proper arrangement of the sections. When light pressure is applied at the upper surface to depress the accumulated sections, the last-added section will be pushed firmly against the underlying ones to put them in surface contact. When the pressure is released, the buoyancy of the sections acts individually and causes them to float upwardly to the surface. The effect of the reversal of pressures, first downwardly then upwardly, will result in the sections assuming more nearly horizontal positions, and settling together to form a more solid pack.

In most instances, when the container is filled with sections to the desired level, the proper amount of syrup will remain in the container. If greater accuracy is de sired in governing the liquid quantity, the liquid in the can after packing can be emptied out and a measured quantity added. The liquid should be handled at all times so that it will not become contaminated, but can be used again in the packing process.

The above process could be carried out by hand, eX- cept that a suitable implement would be necessary for periodic removal of liquid, but for commercial purposes practical apparatus will be required for quantity filling of cans, or other containers. Apparatus for accomplishing this could take the form illustrated.

In the drawings, a machine is shown which consists primarily of a fruit section feeding mechanism 1 and a can filling mechanism 2, mounted in operative association upon a suitable frame 3. The frame may take any desired form, but, for purposes of illustration, is shown to consist of a suitable base 4 from which rises a plurality of uprights 5 to support fixed parts of the appai ratus.

The feeding mechmism 1 includes a feed belt 6 from a sectionizing machine, or other source of supply of grapefruit sections, and a feeding wheel 7, mounted upon a shaft 8 joumalled in a bearing 9 carried by the machine base. The wheel has a plurality of sweeps, or scoops, 1t) projecting more or less radially from its surface, and is positioned to overlie the top flight 11 of the feed belt, so that upon rotation of the wheel the scoops will sweep over the belt and remove grapefruit sections. It is imperative, of course, that the speed of the belt be adjusted with respect to the spacing of sections on the belt and the speed of the belt so that each scoop will engage a grapefruit section and remove it from the belt. A discharge platform 12, which may be simply a fiat plate supported by the frame, underlies the top flight of the feed belt and projects to one side of the belt to underlie the path of movement of the scoops peripherally of the wheel, and to overlie the path of movement of cans to be fed. The discharge platform has a terminal edge 13 which is at the juncture of the path of movement of the scoops and the cans to be filled. The action of the feed mechanism, therefore, will be to advance grapefruit sections by means of the belt and to sweep individual sections from the belt, across the discharge platform and over the terminal edge of the platform into cans travelling beneath the platform edge.

The cans, indicated at 14, are carried in continuous procession under the terminal edge of the discharge platform upon a rotatably mounted table 15. The table is shown fixed upon a shaft 16 carried in a bearing 17 on the frame base. Cans are seated in a circular row about the peripheral edge of the table, and held against inward movement by means of rollers 18, carried by the table. The rollers are spaced from one another cireumferen tially of the table so that each can will bear against a pair of rollers, and each roller will be in contact with two cans. The cans are held against the rollers by a rail 19 which encircles the table and has an inner liner, or surface, 20 which may be of rubber, or other material which will provide frictional engagement with the sides of the cans. With this arrangement, the cans will be caused to rotate about their own axes when the table is revolved. Rail 19 may be carried in any convenient manner by the vertical members 5 of the frame. It will be obvious, therefore, that as the table is rotated, the cans will be moved bodily in a circular orbit, which will carry them beneath the discharge shelf edge, and at the same time, the cans will be caused to rotate about their own vertical axes.

Above each can position there is a combined fruit section depresser and liquid removing assembly 21. This includes an open-bottom liquid-removing cup 22 and a fruit depresser plate 23, which also functions as a bottom for the cup to permit retention of liquid in the cup. The cup may include a central sleeve 24 suitably held within the cup, and the plate 23 may be attached to a rod 25, slidable through the sleeve 24 to move the plate 23 to and from cup-closing position. The outer edge of the plate may be turned downwardly to provide a tapered edge for proper sealing against the bottom edge of the cup when the plate is drawn upwardly. The rod 25 is shown mounted in a guide sleeve 26, carried by a mounting ring 27, supported concentrically above the table upon studs 28. Vertical movement and positioning of the cup and plate can be governed by guide rollers 29 and 30 in guide tracks, or grooves, 31 and 32 in a ring cam 33 mounted concentric to the table on the frame uprights 5. In order to hold the cups and plates against relative rotation, so that the pivotal axes of their respective guide rollers will always stay radial to the table and in the guide grooves, the rods 25 and the openings through the sleeves 24 and 26 can be of similar, non-round cross-section.

In carrying out the disclosed method for filling cans, it will be necessary for each cup and plate assembly to be lowered into its underlying can after a fruit section has 4- been dropped into the can to depress the fruit sections in the can and to place the lower edge of the cup below the liquid level in the can. The plate must then be raised to cup bottom-closing position to trap a given quantity of liquid in the cup. The cup with its plate in closed position must be raised out of the cup lifting the trapped liquid, and the plate lowered from the cup bottom to open the cup and release the trapped liquid into a suitable receptacle. As the emptying of the dipped out liquid is the last step of the cycle, an open trough 34 may be positioned just above the can tops in that are of the orbit of can travel immediately prior to the fruit section receiving position. The trough can be attached to the frame, and have an outlet line 35 leading to an appropriate receptacle (not shown).

In order to accomplish the various movements necessary, the guide grooves are laid out to lift or lower the cup and plate, either individually or in unison, as required. A diagrammatic layout of suitable guide grooves is shown in FIGURE 8.

As the sections are added to the cans from the discharge platform the cup assembly will be at its uppermost position with the plate spaced from the bottom of the cup, as shown in FIGURE 4. At this time, the rollers 29 and 30 will be at the extreme right of the cam pattern shown in FIGURE 8, in their respective grooves 31 and 32. After a fruit section is dropped into a can, the guide rollers will enter the arc of rotation indicated at 36, wherein the guide grooves decline to lower the cup assembly into the can. As the grooves decline at the same degree, the assembly will be lowered into the can with the plate spaced from the cup bottom. This movement will cause the plate to contact, and depress, the fruit sections in the can, and bring the bottom of the cup below the liquid level in the can. The assembly is shown during this movement in FIGURE 5 and at the completion of the movement in FIGURE 6. Continued rotation of table 15 will carry the rollers through that are of the cam track indicated as 37, wherein the upper groove, 31 rises, to cause the plate to move up into cup-closing position and trap liquid in the cup. The next phase of rotation carries the rollers along the section of the ring cam shown as 38, wherein both grooves are inclined at the same rate to cause the cup assembly to rise with the cup closed to lift out the trapped liquid. Continued rotation of the table will carry the assembly over the leading edge of trough 34 and the rollers to the cam section 39, in which the upper groove 31 declines to lower the plate and open the cup so that the trapped liquid may drain into the trough. The remainder of the cam track has the grooves parallel and horizontal, so that the cup may completely empty and the assembly will be in proper position to begin the next cycle.

Any suitable means may be employed to drive the feed wheel, table, and supply belt. If shaft 16 for the table is driven from a convenient source of power, not shown, that shaft may carry a sprocket 40, which, through chain 41, drives a spocket 42 on stub shaft 43. A gear 44 on shaft 43 is in mesh with a gear 45 on feed wheel shaft 8. The diameters of the table and feed wheel, and the ratio of the gear and sprocket drive will be so related that one feed scoop will pass over each can as these members rotate. The supply belt can be driven from any convenient source at such speed relative to the rate of fruit section supply that one section will be fed into each scoop of the feed wheel.

As only sufiicient structure has been shown and described to carry out the disclosed method, the apparatus will operate upon a batch principle. When sufficient revolutions of the table have been made to place the desired number of grapefruit sections in each of the cans, the machine can be stopped, the filled cans removed and a fresh supply of empty cans placed on the table.

It is believed that the operation of the apparatus has been described in sufficient detail during the description of the structure so that no review of it is necessary.

While one practical way of practising the method and one practical embodiment of the apparatus have been disclosed, it will be understood that the specific details of structure shown and described are merely by way of illustration, and the invention may be carried out in diilerent ways within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for filling containers with objects of generally spherical wedge shape comprising, means to support a liquid-filled container, means to deliver a plurality of said objects to the container singly in succession, means movable into and out of the container to remove quantities of liquid therefrom, and means to operate the liquidremoving means in timed sequence with the object deliverly means so that the liquid-removing means will move into and out of the container between successive deliveries of single objects.

2. Apparatus for filling containers with objects of generally spherical wedge shape as claimed in claim 1 wherein there are means to turn the container about its vertical axis intermediate successive deliveries of single objects.

3. Apparatus for filling containers with objects of generally spherical wedge shape as claimed in claim 2, wherein there is a receptacle to receive the liquid removed from the container by the liquid-removing means, and means to cause the liquid-removing means to empty into the receptacle.

4. Apparatus for filling containers with objects of generally spherical wedge shape as claimed in claim 2, wherein the liquid-removing means includes an open-bottom cup and a closure plate movable to and from sealing contact with the open bottom of the cup.

5. Apparatus for filling containers with objects of generally spherical Wedge shape comprising, means to support a plurality of liquid-filled containers, means to deliver a plurality of said objects to a point above the containers support for dropping singly and in succession, means to move the container support in a continuous closed orbital path in timed relation with the object delivery means to position containers beneath the delivery point to receive successively dropped objects in successive containers, means movable into and out of the containers to remove quantities of liquid therefrom, and means to operate the liquid removing means in sequence with the movement of the container support means to remove quantities of liquid from each container following each delivery of an object to a container.

6. Apparatus for filling containers with objects of generally spherical wedge shape as claimed in claim 5 wherein there are frictional means along the container path to contact containers moving along the path to cause the containers to rotate about their vertical axes.

7. Apparatus for filling containers with objects of generally spherical wedge shape as claimed in claim 6 wherein there is a receptacle to receive the liquid removed from the containers, and means to cause the liquid-removing means to empty into the receptacle.

8. Apparatus for filling containers with objects of generally spherical wedge shape as claimed in claim 7 wherein the liquid removing means includes an open bottom cup and a closure plate movable to and from sealing contact with the open bottom of the cup.

9. Apparatus for filling containers with objects of generally spherical wedge shape comprising, a frame, a table rotatable on the frame adapted to support a plurality of liquid-filled containers seated in a circular row about the axis of rotation of the table, friction means mounted upon the frame peripherally of the table for contact with containers in the circular row, means mounted on the table to hold containers in contact with the friction means, means to rotate the table to carry the containers in a circular path, a feed wheel having radial scoops rotatably mounted on the frame for movement above the plane of the tops of containers on the table with the path of movement of the scoops overlying the path of movement of containers on the table at one point at least, a feed belt to deliver objects to the feed wheel to be swept by the scoops of the feed wheel to the point of overlap of the feed wheel scoop and container paths to drop into containers at that point, means to remove quantities of liquid from the containers after delivery of each object to a container, and means operable at positions in the path of container travel other than the point of overlap with the feed wheel to move the liquid-removing means into and out of the containers.

10. Apparatus for filling containers with objects of generally spherical wedge shape as claimed in claim 9 where in there is a receptacle into which the liquid-removing meansmay be emptied, and means to empty the liquidremoving means.

11. Apparatus for filling containers with objects of generally spherical wedge shape as claimed in claim 10 wherein the liquid removing means includes an open bottom cup and a closure plate movable to and from sealing contact with the open bottom of the cup.

12. A method for filling containers with objects of generally spherical wedge shape comprising, filling a container to a level near the top with a liquid which will float the objects, adding objects to the container by dropping the objects singly into the liquid, partially rotating the container between successive additions of objects to the container, depressing objects in the liquid below the liquid level and releasing the objects after each successive addition of an object, and removing a sufficient quantity of liquid from the container between successive additions of objects to maintain the liquid in the container at a constant level.

Stryker June 2, 1953 McOrlly Feb. 7, 1961 

12. A METHOD FOR FILLING CONTAINERS WITH OBJECTS OF GENERALLY SPHERICAL WEDGE SHAPE COMPRISING, FILLING A CONTAINER TO A LEVEL NEAR THE TOP WITH A LIQUID WHICH WILL FLOAT THE OBJECTS, ADDING OBJECTS TO THE CONTAINER BY DROPPING THE OBJECTS SINGLY INTO THE LIQUID, PARTIALLY ROTATING THE CONTAINER, DEPRESSING OBJECTS IN THE LIQUID BELOW THE LIQUID LEVEL AND RELEASING THE OBJECTS AFTER EACH SUCCESSIVE ADDITION OF AN OBJECT, AND REMOVING A SUFFICIENT QUANTITY OF LIQUID FROM THE CONTAINER BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE ADDITIONS OF OBJECTS TO MAINTAIN THE LIQUID IN THE CONTAINER AT A CONSTANT LEVEL. 